Levelock - AlaskaWeb.org


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Levelock

 

Levelock is located on the west bank of the Kvichak River, 10 miles inland from Kvichak Bay. It lies 56 miles east of Dillingham and 278 air miles southwest of Anchorage. It lies at approximately 59° 07' N Latitude, 156° 51' W Longitude (Sec. 28, T012S, R045W, Seward Meridian). The community is located in the Kvichak Recording District. The area encompasses 28 sq. miles of land and 5 sq. miles of water.

Early Russian explorers reported the presence of Levelock, which they called "Kvichak." The smallpox epidemic of 1837 killed more than half of the residents of the Bristol Bay region, and left entire villages abandoned. A measles epidemic hit the region in 1900. A 1908 survey of Russian missions identified "Lovelock's Mission" at this site. The worldwide influenza epidemic in 1918-19 again devastated area villages. Koggiung Packers operated a cannery at Levelock in 1925-26. A large fire, attributed to a cannery worker's careless cigarette, threatened the entire village in 1926, but residents dug fire lines which saved their homes. The fire depleted the scarce wood resources used to heat homes. A second cannery operated from 1928-29. In 1930 the first school was built, and a post office was established in 1939. By this time, families had converted their homes to oil heat. Moose first appeared in the area in the 1930s. During the early 1950s, another cannery was in operation.

 

 



 


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